During your stay in Kangerlussuaq, you will most likely see both reindeer and musk oxen. Today, we have around 3,000 reindeer in the area. The reindeer is in a natural period of decline owing to a shortage of reindeer moss. Until the beginning of the 1970s, there were no fewer than 40,000 or so reindeer in the area.
The countryside around Kangerlussuaq is very green during the summer, with a rich flora. More than 200 species have been recorded, for instance: the large-flowered rosebay or French willow, which is the national flower of Greenland, bluebell, arctic rhododendron, marsh tea, dryas or mountain avens, cinquefoil, thorny saxifrage, dwarf willow, birch, cotton-grass and many more. There are also crowberries, cowberries and especially many bilberries (blueberries) in August. In addition, there are many edible fungi such as field mushrooms, boletus and puffballs.
Since 1989, the stock of musk oxen has grown so large that it is safe for commercial hunters from Maniitsoq and the Municipality of Sisimiut to hunt down a number of animals annually. In 1995, the quota was 600 beasts, and that same year 38 musk oxen were awarded to trophy-hunters by Greenland's Home Rule. In recent years, calves from the stock at Kangerlussuaq have also been relocated to other areas of west Greenland.
From end-November to mid-June, the fjord freezes over. Not nearly as much snow falls in Kangerlussuaq as in coastal towns. The sun ducks below the horizon on November 22nd and re-emerges, radiantly, on January 22nd, after an absence of precisely 2 months. From mid-April to mid-August, it is light 24 hours a day, but because of the mountains, there is no midnight sun.
So it's a useful idea to take along mosquito nets and similar devices. Anti-mosquito spray and mosquito repellent can also be bought in the shop.
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